Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 682,749 Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,013,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 682,749 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Ventas worth $59,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ventas by 1,039.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W raised Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.90.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:VTR opened at $68.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.87, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Ventas Company Profile

Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.